Abstract:

Farmer forums under the TARP II SUA, project in Tanzania have demonstrated
fruitful partnership between farmers, researchers and extension agents in
communicating and disseminating innovations and technologies to a wider
audience. Five forums have been held in each of the zones implementing the project.
Some of the themes covered under the five forums include: identification of problems
faced by smallholder farmers, marketing problems for agricultural produce, local
chicken: production and demand, technology adoption from farmers ' perception and
conflicts between crop producers and livestock keepers. During these forums,
participating stakeholders identified and prioritized key issues and problems,
proposed solutions and agreed on respective stakeholders' responsibilities. This
paper provides an overview on the conduct, perceptions, outputs and the challenge ahead
regarding this approach for the development offarmers.